


The Life We Were Living

by keepthekettleon



Series: We Took The Road Less Traveled By [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, High School Student Dean, High School Student Sam, No Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 13:09:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6376042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keepthekettleon/pseuds/keepthekettleon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Julia and Emily are just ordinary sisters. But at the end of the day, they will no longer be able to stay oblivious to the things out there.  When Dean and Sam have to involuntarily go on their first hunt without their Dad, they pull them into this horrifying world.</p><p>First part of the "Time and Time again..."-Series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something's not quite alright

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place shortly after Dean and Sam's time in Highschool as displayed in"After School Special". It can be read as a standalone fic, but there will be more parts to come.

**March 1998, Lafayette, Indiana**

A teenage girl stood in the kitchen of her house and smeared some peanut butter on a slice of bread. Her blonde hair fell in waves down her back and her blue eyes shined in the light of the first sunrays that broke through the curtains. She called out. "Emily! Your sandwich is ready on the counter! I'm leaving for school. Please tidy the living room before Mum and Dad get home, okay? Thanks!"

"Thanks, big sis!" A voice hollered down the stairs shortly before the trampeling of boots resounded down the stairwell. Her arms wide open, the girl who was obviously named Emily threw herself at her big sister. The difference between the two was severe. Emily was pretty, her young facial features accentuated by a fair bit of makeup. She was twelve, but she did look at least like fifteen. Her sister Julia, on the opposite, was a natural beauty. The freckles on her skin gave her an innocent look, but stunning she was nonetheless. Truth be told, she was more that that. She was truly beautiful for her fifteen years.

Julia smiled at her younger sister and freed herself from her tight embrace. "I know you love me, but I don't want a makeup stain on my white shirt." She had stopped criticising Emily for her sudden excessive use of makeup months ago and just accepted it. They were different, there was no point in denying that.  
Emily grabbed her sandwich as Julia already walked out the door towards the bus. The highschool was about ten minutes by bus away, whereas the secondary school was just a few blocks down the street.

When Julia entered the school building, she had the feeling that something was off. Not that she knew what, it was just a feeling. Her first class was Biology and the thought of it made her groan. She placed her bag next to her usual table in the second row and prepared for the lesson. Hating biology didn't seem to make her bad in it. She just liked learning, studying, and even if the topic didn't really interest her, she studied nonetheless. The bell rang and with it entered her teacher. That was one of the main reasons why she hated biology and tuesdays.

But right behind the teacher came in a small, brown haired boy. His posture was hunched and he avoided eye contact at all costs. Mr. Utman introduced him. "Listen up, folks! We have a new student here. This is Sam Winchester. He and his family moved here a few days ago. I hope you all will be nice to him and show him around a little bit." He looked around. "Maybe Ms. Pearson over here could take over that part. I think you two should get along quite well."  
Whatever that was supposed to mean... Julia shrugged it off. The new guy... no, SAM... took the table right next to her and she eyed him curiously. He leaned down and opened his schoolbag. Some metallic things glistened in there and it took her a few seconds to comprehend what they were. Knives. Knives of all sorts and shapes. Suddenly she wasn't so sure anymore of she really wanted to show him around.

When the bell rang at the end of class, Sam waited awkwardly next to her table until she had everything packed up. She couldn't help herself but to feel sorry for him. Moving couldn't be easy for him. She slung the backpack over her shoulder and turned to him. "Let's go then!"

"It's okay if you don't want to show me around. I'll find my way." Sam shrugged. "I always do."

"How often have you moved then?" Julia asked.

"Don't remember. Approximately every month. We never stay long in one place."

"Must be hard. Do you have any siblings?"

His eyes started glowing. "I hava a big brother. He's a great brother."

"Is he here with you?" She asked interested.

"Yeah, he's a senior."

"That's nice. By the way, what class do you have next?"

"British Classics, you?"

"Also. Seems like I don't have to walk you anywhere, I'll just take you with me."

He let out a small laugh. "You know you don't have to pretend that you like me. I'll be gone in a week or two anyways."

"I don't pretend!" Julia defended herself. "I could never pretend that I like someone if I don't. You know, Sam, truth be told I'm not one of the most popular girls here and you should have someone around here at least for the time being."

Sam smiled at her. "Thanks." He waved at someone down the hall and Julia followed his gaze. There was a blonde boy standing, obviously swarmed by girls.

"Is that your brother?" She asked. "Seems like he's gonna be popular."

Sam let out a scornful snort. "Like always."

"So he's a not that great example of a brother then?"

Sam entered the classroom right after her. "No, no, he is, but he just doesn't understand what it's like not to be popular or not to be adored by girls. I think he likes our family lifestyle and he doesn't care about not to be able to make lasting friends."

"But you do, right?" Julia took the table next to him.

"Yeah. In the last school we were to were the roles reversed and he was sooo happy to get away!" He chuckled.

"Can I see your time table?" Julia asked out of the blue. Sam slid it over to her.

She took a quick look at it, just to see that they didn't have the next class together, but that they both had lunch break afterwards. "I'll show you around in lunch break, okay? Your next class is on my way, so I'll see you to it and we just meet afterwards." She smiled and handed the paper back to him.

"Great!"

***  
Julia walked out of class a few minutes late, because the teacher had wanted to talk to her. The hallway layed empty before her. All students were either in their respective classes or in the cafeteria for lunch.

She walked down the hall when there was a sudden sharp sound right behind her as if someone had slammed their locker shut, but when she turned around, there was nothing. She tried to shake the eerie feeling off that started to creep up her spine but it didn't quite work. Then the lock of the locker right next to her ratteled and she jumped with a squeal. What was wrong here?! She grabbed her bag and ran out of the hallway as fast as she could. Swinging the doors open, she crashed into someone.

It was Sam. "Hey, hey! What the hurry?" He asked surprised.

"Don‛t go in there. Something‛s wrong in there!" Julia had an absolutely terrified look on her face.

Sam looked at her questionly. "What did you see?"

"Nothing! There was just noise, but no one was there! And then the lock started moving, but I didn‛t touch it!"

Sam suddenly seemed to age years when he pulled out a knife and ordered: "Stay here." and then disappeared into the hall.

"What do you think you‛re doing!" Julia called after him.

She started nervously chewing on her fingernails as she waited for him to return.

Five minutes later, he stepped through the doors again. "And?" She asked.

"I didn‛t see anything."

"You don‛t believe me." She stated.

"Matter of fact I do, actually. But I can‛t handle this on my own. Can we go to the cafeteria?"

"Of course. Follow me."

In the cafeteria, Sam scanned the tables immediately for his brother. When he spotted him, he pulled Julia over to Dean‛s table. The latter was just talking to a cheerleader when Sam interrupted him. "Dean, we have a problem here."

"Sam!" Dean scolded his younger brother. "I‛m busy here!"

"Dean, this is important."

Dean rolled his eyes and turned to the girl infront of him. "Could you give us a minute, sweetheart?" The girl shot him a flirtatious smile before turning away.

Now it was Julia‛s turn to roll her eyes. She knew Kim barely, but she was a nice person. Sam took the girls seat and indicated Julia to take a seat on the head end of the table.

Dean eyed her nonchalantly. "What is she doing here?"

"She‛s a part of the problem."

"How?"

Julia chimed in. "Could you stop talking like I‛m not sitting right next to you?"

"Sorry." Sam looked at her apologetically. "Promise not to freak out, okay?"

"Okay?" She said it more like a question.

"Could you tell Dean what you saw?"

Dean interrupted. "Wait, wait, wait... This is about THAT?"

Sam neglected Dean‛s comment. "Julia?"

"I don‛t know anymore... I thought I heard a locker slam shut behind me, but when I turned around there was nothing. Then the locker next to me started ratteling and that was when I ran."

Dean raised an eyebrow.

"What do you think it is?" Sam asked.

"Could be a lot of things. Poltergeist, vengeful spirit, anything like that." He turned to Julia. "Were there electrical fluctuations like flickering lights or something like that?"

"No, not that I can think of." She replied confused. "But I don't think there were any lights on."

"Good. Then there‛s at hope that there's no ghost here."

"What are you talking about? As far as I thought there is no such thing as a Poltergeist or Demons."

Dean sighed. "Then how do you explain to yourself what you saw and heard?"

"I don‛t know. Imagination, an open window, something!"

"Sorry, but we believe that what you saw was real."

Julia gulped and then asked hesitantely. "If those things are real... what else is? And how do you know of it?"

Sam answered this time. "Our dad‛s a hunter."

"Meaning he hunts ghosts? And that‛s why you move around?"

"Yep. Basically."

Dean threw in. "Among other evil sons of bitches."

"Okay, I get it. So what are we gonna do about that thing that just scared the shit out of me?"

"Nothing." Dean answered.

"Nothing? You gotta be kidding me." Julia protested.

"We wait for our dad to return from his current hunt and then we let him deal with it."

"But Dean..." Sam‛s voice was urgent.

"No, Sam." Dean said in a stern voice. "Dad‛s gonna deal with that thing, not us!"

Sam sighed defeated and turned away.

Julia nudged him in the side."C‛mon, I‛ll show you ‛round if you‛re not hungry."

Sam smiled. "No, I‛m not really hungry any more."

Julia led him out of the cafeteria. As they walked around the building, she couldn‛t contain her curiosity any more. "Dean said it was some kind of ghost that scared me? How do you kill a ghost?"

"Usually you salt and burn the bones if you know who the ghost is."

"The bones? So you have to dig out the coffin?"

"That‛s usually the place where the remains go after a person dies."

"Thank‛s, Captain Smartass. I just think that that‛s a lot of work."

"Usually that‛s implied when you dig out a corpse from 5 feet under."

"Oh, c‛mon! That‛s..."

"You just state the obvious! What can I say."

"Is that why Dean didn‛t want do to anything?"

"No, it‛s just that we‛ve never gone after a thing before alone."

"Oh. So your dad does everything and you just sit in the corner and watch?"

"Mostly he‛s out and Dean stays with me in the motel room and takes care that nothing kills me." He said it with a little venom in his voice.

"You know, I have a little sister and I also wouldn‛t want her to go out and get herself killed. I guess they just want to protect you."

Sam sighed and shrugged it off. "It‛s just... I‛m not a little baby any more."

Julia stopped mid-stride. The eerie feeling came back, but nothing moved. Laughter erupted in a class nearby and the spook was over.

"Did you just feel that too?" She asked.

”Should I have?“

”Ugh, nevermind. Guess I‛m just overreacting. We‛re here in the C-Wing. It‛s the Creative-Wing also. Here we have Choir, Orchestra, Band and Art classes. Wing B is the science wing and all the other classes are located in wing A. The gym is located in a seperate wing right next to the entrance.“

”That‛s the first school I‛ve been to where the whole system actually makes sense.“

”I‛ll take that as a compliment.“ She walked through the doors into the study hall. ”Here in study hall, we have doors to all three wings plus the door to the entrance area where the cafeteria is along with the entrance to the gym hall. We have a small library here in the middle as you can see and computer and laptop stations along the walls.“

”I hope I won‛t get lost...“

”If you do, just come back here and you can reorientate yourself. Let‛s go check out the gym. The gym was built later than the school, before they had to use another gym right down the street, but that building burned down about five years ago.“

”What happened?“

”It‛s said that a piece of clothing in one of the dressing rooms caught fire and since the whole building was mostly wood, it burned completely to the ground.“

”Did anybody die there that day?“

”I don‛t think so. Not that I know of. Some kids had it pretty bad, but they fixed everyone up again.“

”Good.“

Julia swung the doors of the gym open. There were some boys playing basketball. ”Here we have our gym. There‛s always someone playing in here. Follow me.“ She walked down the sideline of the field to a door. ”In there are the dressing rooms.“ She pushed the door open and Sam followed her.

They were in a small room with lockers and two doors. Julia explained. ”The left door leads to the girls dressing room and the other one is for the boys. In the boxes and lockers over there are balls and other stuff.“ She turned away from them and faced Sam. ”I think that was it.“

The lights on the ceiling flickered. Sam went all defensive stance.

”Relax, Sam. They always flicker. There‛s nothing.“ She smiled.

Sam jumped at her and dragged her down on the floor. A ball flew right past them.

Julia sucked in the air sharply. “Okay, that usually does not happen.”

“Let‛s get out of here.” Sam dragged her up and she ran out of the room right after him.

“What was THAT?” She asked out of breath.

“My guess would be that you have a ghost in there.”

“Shit?” She said it like she was asking if that was an appropriate response. “What do we do about it?”

“Dean said we‛ll stand down and do nothing.”

“You really want the whole school to freak out? Because that‛s gonna happen.”

“Dad‛s the boss. We have to follow his orders.”

Julia looked at him sceptically. “Orders...”

“Don‛t look at me like that. I‛m not the one who‛s so keen on following them like a puppy, Dean is.”

“So what are we doing?”

“We can do some research. Find out who‛s haunting the school.”

“Sounds good to me. Right after school in study hall for an hour?”

“Great. See you then.”

They both parted and Julia went back to the cafeteria to pick up her friends.

“Gwen, Feli! Haven‛t seen you guys all day.”

The red haired girl responded. “I didn‛t want to interrupt you and your new friend. Who is he?”

“Why so curious, Gwen? He‛s the new guy.”

“Aaand?” Felicity asked.

“Nothing? He‛ll be gone in a week or two anyways, so don‛t try to set me up.”

“Okay…” Feli smiled and lifted her hands in surrender. “As you wish.”

Julia suggested. “He‛s got a brother though. He is quite a look.”

“Which class?” Gwen asked, sounding interrested.

“Senior. But let‛s get going, we wouldn‛t wanna be late for Chemistry, would we?”

“Actually we would. It sucks.”

“Chemistry doesn‛t suck, Ms. Finnegan does.”

“Yeah, Mr. Utman‛s dick.”

“Gwen!” Julia exclaimed. “Lower your voice!”

Gwen just laughed and opened the door to Wing B. Julia got that cold feeling up her spine again. Unconciously the other two felt it too and fell silent. Julia tried to surpress the panic building up inside her. Gwen and Felicity shouldn‛t know of that. The lights flickered.

“C‛mon, hurry up. We‛re late.” She hushed them forward and into the classroom.

“Were you scared?” Gwen mocked surprised.

Ms. Finnegan hadn‛t arrived yet and Julia sincerly hoped that the ghost wouldn‛t attack them with so many people around.

About a minute later, Ms. Finnegan rushed in, looking flustered. “Whoever played that prank on me will pay! That wasn‛t funny.”

Everyone in the classroom looked surprised, except for Julia. She looked shocked and that gave her away.

“Is there anything you‛d like to share with us, Ms. Pearson?”

“I didn‛t do it, I swear, but something scared the hell out of me too earlier.” She didn‛t dare to mention the ghost thing, everyone would just have thought she‛d gone crazy.

“Well, let‛s get started.” Ms. Finnegan turned around and began with the lesson.


	2. Seems like we're gonna be alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julia gets to see a ghost. But someone else gets to see it too, someone she never wanted to drag into this.

The bell rang and indicated the end of today‛s last lesson. Julia wrangled her way through the mass of students that couldn‛t wait to get out of here, hoping she wouldn‛t get washed away by them. Sam would wait for her in the study hall and she didn‛t want to keep him waiting for too long.

When the stream of people finally faded, she made it into the study hall. It was empty. Sam was nowhere to be seen. She made her way over to the computers and turned two of them on. While she stared at the black screen and waited, she heard one of the doors swing open.

“Hey Sam! I‛m over here!” She called out without turning around.

Silence. Just the soft whirling sound of the computer.

“Sam?” Julia asked while turning around.

The lights flickered again. How the hell was she supposed to defend herself? She pressed her back against the nearest wall, which made her feel at least a little bit safer.

The fluctuations grew stronger. One of the big paintings on the wall moved slightly. Then a doorhandle which was closer to her than the painting was pushed down. The leaves of the ginko pot tree fluttered. Whoever did this was getting closer. Could you strangle a ghost? Did it have a body, just an invisible one, or was it nothing but thin air?

The chair ten feet from her moved and she turned and ran to the door as fast as she could. Another chair was pushed in her way and she had to row back to keep herself from tumbling over it. Where was Sam when he was needed!? She tried to reach the other door but when she did, it didn‛t open. “Sam!” She screamed while she tried to open the door. “Sam, are you there?”

Silence. Terrifying silence. No movements behind her and no Sam on the other side of the door. The lights went on and the doors opened under her touch.

“Sam?” She asked hesitantly. “Anybody there?”

The doors behind her flung open and she whirled around. It was Sam. “Thank God!” She sighed relieved.

“Sorry, Dean wanted me to go back to the motel with him, so I had to sneak out. He‛s probably worried sick about me.” He looked around. “What happened?”

“That freaking ghost attacked. Locked me in here and wouldn‛t let me out. What does it want? It didn‛t try to kill me, it just scared the shit out of me.”

“I have no idea. Dean and Dad go hunting and I stand back. They don‛t want me out there.”

“That thing fucking scares me! So I wanna know how I make it go AWAY! It attacked one of my teachers so it doesn‛t simply have a problem with me, it just... I don‛t know. You‛re the expert.”

“No, actually Dean‛s the expert.”

“So you think we should ask him? You know how that turned out the last time.”

“I thought it was a vengeful spirit, but then it would‛ve killed by now.”

“How would you know it didn‛t?”

“I guess it‛s bound to the school, so it would have killed in here and we would have noticed. Secondly, I hacked the police radio.”

“I just have a whole new level of respect for you.”

A scream came from Wing C. Sam and Julia ran over to the doors as a they burst open and her Dramatic Arts teacher came running in.

“Mr. Dunham, what happened?” Julia asked.

“I don‛t know, I swear to God.”

Sam chimed in. “Did you have the feeling that it tried to kill you?”

“What… No, I don‛t… I don‛t think so. When I was utterly terrified, it stopped.”

“Could you see it?”

“No. Julia, he doesn‛t actually believe me, does he?”

“He does and so do I.”

“Sir, it would be best if you left the building now.” Sam urged. “You should also never talk to anyone about this if you don’t want to end up in a psychic ward. Just a well-intended suggestion.”

“And what are you kids gonna do?”

“We’re leaving too.” Julia stated.

“We are?” Sam asked.

“You know that I prefer not meeting that thing again? Or at least I thought that was obvious.”

“Okay.” Sam agreed. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

***

Only when they were halfway back to her house, Julia was able to shake that tingly feeling off. Sam was coming with her so they could start the research back at her place.

“So, what do you think your brother is doing right now?” Julia asked.

“He’s probably going crazy.”

“Maybe you should call.”

“Why?” Sam asked confused.

“You are his brother, Sam. I know how I would feel if my sister went MIA. Just for the sake of telling him that you’re okay, call him.”

“Okay.” He pulled out his phone and dialled Dean’s number.

It didn’t take long until Dean picked up. “What the fuck, Sammy! Where are you? You know that I am for fuck’s sake fucking responsible for you? So swing your ass over here right now!”

“Sorry Dean.” Sam said apologetically. “But if I hadn’t gone back to the school, we’d have Julia and a teacher scared to death sitting there, with no idea what just happened to them. I know you don’t want to, but we gotta fight this thing on our own before this gets worse.”

“You’re crazy, Sam, and you know that. Dad’s gonna get furious when he finds out and he’s gonna get even more furious if I let you get hurt in the process. So if you say we need to take care of this now, I’m gonna be the one to do this.”

“You know you can’t leave me behind, Dean, unless you lock me up. I’m at Julia’s right now. Should we come over or are you gonna come here?”

“Give me the address. I’m coming.”

Sam cupped the speaker. “What’s your address?”

“38th Haley Street. But my parents are home so he better dress appropriately.”

Sam got back to Dean. “We’re at 38th Haley Street. Her parents are home so…” He trailed off. “Bye to you too, Dean.” Then he pressed the red button.

“So he’s coming?”

“Yeah, we better be there before him. How far is it?”

“Approximately five minutes.”

They walked home in silence.

Julia opened the door to her house and let him in. The smell of a freshly cooked meal hung in the air. “Mum, Dad? I’m home!”

A blonde woman stepped in sight. “You’re late. We already started with lunch. I see you brought a friend?” She extended her hand to Sam. “I’m Gabrielle, Julia’s mother. Nice to meet you.”

Sam took her hand. “Sam Winchester. Nice to meet you too.”

Julia explained. “Sam and his brother just moved here, so I thought they could come by and I’ll help them catch up to everything. I hope that’s not a problem. Sam’s brother Dean should be here any second.”

“Of course not, sweetheart. I really appreciate how you take care of new students.” She turned to Sam. “Would you and your brother like to eat with us?”

“We really don’t want to be a burden.”

“Oh no, you wouldn’t be! My daughter invited you so I would be happy if you had lunch with us.”

“Then yes, of course. Thank you!”

A car roared in front of the house. Julia raised her hand. “I got it.”

“Come on, Sam. No need to be shy.” Julia’s Mum led Sam into the dining room as Julia herself went out to Dean.

“Hey, Dean! Just behave please, okay?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I’ve seen guys like you, Dean. You’re a jerk. So please cut back on that behaviour while…” She trailed off and stared at his car. “Is that a 1967 Chevrolet Impala?” She asked in awe.

“Yeah, it is. You know something about cars?” Dean asked.

“I just like old cars. Is it yours?”

“It belongs to our Dad. He left it here while he’s out.”

“Come on, let’s get in. My mum invited you two for lunch.”

“Okay then.” Dean slammed the door shut and followed her.

She looked back at him. “You know, if I would buy myself an old car, it would probably be a ‘71 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible.”

“Hey, how old are you? That’s gonna take some years until you got your licence!”

“I’m fifteen, thanks. And I don’t think you’re got a license either, so shut up.”

Her mother came out as soon as she opened the door. “You must be Dean then. I’m Gabriella.” She shook Dean’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, ma’am.”

“Come on in. We’ve already started, but I got two plates for you and your brother. I hope you like German food because that’s what we usually eat.”

“I never tried it before, but I’ll give it a shot.”

“Good.” They entered the dining room where the whole family sat at the table.

Dean smiled weakly as he made his way over to the last free seat. Sam’s radiating smile and the happy faces everybody had made him feel so out of place. Hadn’t he always thought he had everything he needed? His brother, his Dad, wasn’t that enough? Why did he feel that he was missing something?

“Hey, Dean, everything okay?”

Dean put on a fake smile. “Yeah, of course Sammy.” Eventually the smile stayed on as he listened to the gleeful family chatter. It was as if he was looking at something he shouldn’t look at, because it was something he could never have.

After lunch, the three of them went up to Julia’s room. Dean was to first one to speak up. “You don’t have to take any part in this, Julia. That’s our job, MY job, not yours. I just wanted to make that clear.”

Julia shook her head. “Don’t think I’m not scared, because I’m scared as hell, but I’m not going to sit here and do nothing. Whatever you guys are gonna do, I’m coming with you.”

“Now that that’s settled, what happened back at the school?”

“Julia and I planned on meeting up after school for some research. I was late, because I had to go back with you.  When I finally came back, the thing had already left Julia alone and then it went after one of her teachers.”

“It attacked another teacher in the lesson after lunch break. She thought it was a bad joke.” Julia added.

“So what do you think it is, Dean?” Sam asked.

“A vengeful spirit would only go after one person and it would kill. Could be a poltergeist. Dad mentioned them once or twice. They just haunt for attention.”

“Sounds plausible. The moment I kind of acknowledged it was there, it left.”

Sam spoke up. “So how do we kill it, Dean?”

“I have no fucking clue.” Dean admitted.

“Ugh… That’s amazing.” Sam’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. “So how do we kill a thing we don’t know how to kill?”

“Trial and error?” Julia suggested, not being a hundred percent serious. She pulled out her laptop from under her bed. “Maybe the collective wisdom of the internet will know something.”

She just sat there and looked and looked and then her head shot up. “Guys, I think I found something. Is Hoodoo a real thing?”

“As far as I know.” Dean answered.

“I have a Hoodoo ritual here that should cleanse the house from all evil. Do you think that could work on a poltergeist?”

“Could work. Hopefully.” Dean nodded.

“What do we need?” Sam asked.

“We need angelica root, van-van oil, sage, pine needles, iron dust and salt.”

Sam turned the laptop to himself and read out loud. “Put those ingredients in hex bags and put them into the north, south, east and west walls of the house. After that the house will be free from all evil spirits and you can continue to live there undisturbed.”

“Sounds good to me. Where do we get the stuff?” Dean asked.

Julia spoke up. “Salt, pine needles, iron dust and sage isn’t that hard to find. I know where to get that, but what about van-van oil and angelica root?”

“Angelica root maybe in a drug store?” Sam suggested.

“I just looked up van-van oil. That’s not just any oil, that’s a mixture specially made for Hoodoo practices. And it needs to brew for three months.” That hit like a bombshell.

“So what now?” Sam asked.

Julia suggested. “Maybe we’ll just leave it out and it will work anyways?”

“Seems like the only option we’ve got.” Sam stated.

Dean turned to Julia. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay here? It would be safer.”

“Believe me, I’m not some adrenaline junkie but I have to lend you a hand. I’m scared as hell but I’m coming with you.”

Dean sighed. “Where do we get all this stuff?”

“I’m going to the drug store to look for angelica root.” Sam volunteered.

“No, you’re not. I’m going.” Dean objected. “You stay here and get the rest of the stuff. We meet up in two hours at the school. I’ll bring the angelica root and the hex bags.”

“Yes, sir.” Sam mocked.

Dean shook his head and sighed. “Sam, please.”

“Just… we’ll see you in two hours, okay?”

Julia got up. “I’ll walk you out.”

They left the room. “What was that about? Sam was just messing around.” Julia turned to Dean while walking down the stairs.

Dean pressed his lips together. “No he wasn’t.”

“And how would you know?”

“I just know. Mind your own business.”

“Whatever. I’ll see you then.” She closed the door behind him and sighed. Then she went back up to Sam.

“So where do we get the stuff?”

“We have salt and sage in the kitchen. Pine needles are a bit more complicated. There’s a pine tree in the park. We can get some when we go the school.”

Sam waited for her to go on. When he realized she wouldn’t, he spoke up. “And the iron dust?”

“There’s some in the lab at school. We just used it for physics.”

“Then… we’ve got everything?”

“Yeah. Now we have about one and a half hours time before we have to leave. What do we do?”

“I don’t know.” Sam shrugged.

Julia sat down cross-legged on her bed. “Tell me more about the things you guys are hunting. I want to know what I have to protect myself against and how.”

“Okay.” Sam started.

\---

Two hours later, they were all standing in front of the school building.

“So in which walls to we have to put these?” Dean asked.

“The north wall is the back wall of the gym, south is the back wall of Wing B, east is the wall behind the food distribution and west is the back wall of Wing C. I looked it up.” Julia stated calmly.

“Okay. We’re gonna do it like this. We go straight to the lab, then we mix this stuff together, make the four hex bags and then I’m going to do the south and the west wall while you do north and east. Just one last question. We have to put these IN the walls?”

Sam answered. “Yes.”

“For you it’s not that hard, Dean. You can take off the window sill and stuff it into the gap underneath. I never looked at the cafeteria window, so that might be harder. In the gym we might be able to hide it behind the tapestry.”

“Good then let’s go!”

They got into the lab and Julia immediately began searching for the iron dust while Sam and Dean started mixing the other stuff together. The lights started to flicker again. “Julia, did you find it?” Dean called out.

“No! Give me some time, please?”

“We might not have that!”

The door of one cupboard opened itself and Julia jumped back. A jar rolled out and Julia caught it before it dropped to the floor. She looked at it and furrowed her brows. “That’s weird.” The flickering faded and finally stopped.

“What is it?” Sam asked.

“The ghost just seemed to _give_ me the iron dust!”

“What!?” Dean exclaimed.

“It nearly _handed_ it to me! But whatever, we got it.” She handed it to Sam. “Let’s get this done.”

Sam opened the jar and added some iron dust to every hex bag. “We’re done.” He handed Dean two of the hex bags.

“Thanks, Sam. Let’s do this. And you two, keep safe.” The lights flickered again when he walked to the door.

Dean turned around and lifted his shotgun. “Come out, you evil son of a bitch! Are you afraid? Because you should be!”

“Dean, watch out! Behind you!” Sam exclaimed.

An old woman was standing behind Dean but before he could shoot her, she flung the gun across the room.

“Who are you?” Dean asked.

“I know her.” Julia said. “Her picture is hanging in the hallway… She is the founder of this school, who died in 1965.”

The ghost spoke up. “I’m not the one doing this, I just wanted you ask you to put me to rest after you got rid of the other spirit. I watched over this school since the day I died, but it has become too much. Please!”

“No worries.” Dean said through clenched teeth. “We will be very happy to do so.”

“Thank you.” Then she just vanished.

Dean went to pick up the gun. “Let’s go. Seems like we have two ghosts to get rid of.”

They parted as Dean went to the end of the hall to the first window while Julia went to the cafeteria and Sam made his way to the gym. The lights went crazy in the whole building.

Doors swung open and slammed shut again. Sam yelled at Julia before he entered the gym. “Place your hex bag as fast as possible, before that thing gets to you!”

“I will!” Julia promised and ran to the kitchen door. It didn’t budge when she tried to open it. She slammed her body against it, but she was too small.

Then all of a sudden, high pitched screams came from somewhere in the building. She turned away from the door and ran towards the sounds. Sam came running out of the gym and yelled after her. “What happened? Did you place your hex bag?”

“NO! The door wouldn’t open! Did you place yours?”

“Yeah, I did.”

The screams became louder and Dean did now also catch up to them. Julia stopped to locate the screams. Then she ran even faster.

“Julia, what is it?” Sam called as he ran after her.

Julia sounded panicked. “That’s Emily’s voice!” She banged at the classroom door form where the screams came. There was the sound of things hitting walls and of chairs crashing. “Emily?! Emily, are you in there?!”

“Julia! Help me!” Emily’s voice came through the door.

Dean looked at Sam. “Who’s Emily?”

“Care to help?” Julia turned around. “Or are you dumbasses just going to stand there and listen to my sister die?” Her whole expression mirrored fear and sorrow and rage.

“Okay, stand back!” Dean ordered. Julia backed off the door and Dean crashed into it. It didn’t do anything.

“Julia!” Emily still screamed for her sister.

Dean tried again but it didn’t work. “Did you place all the hex bags?” He asked out of breath while he repeatedly slammed into the door.

“I couldn’t place mine, because I didn’t get into the room.” Julia had tears streaming down her face.

“Okay Sam. You go and place that hex bag. We try what we can here.”

Julia handed Sam her hex bag. “Hurry, please!” Then she continued to yell through the door at her sister. “Emily, we’re here! We’re gonna get you out, just hang on for a little bit longer!”

Then suddenly the screaming stopped and the lights went back to normal. Dean took a deep breath. “Huh. Thank you, Sammy.”

Sam came running down the hall. “What happened?”

Dean smiled. “It worked. Good job, Sammy.”

Sam shook his head. “I didn’t do anything.” He pulled the hex bag out of his pocket. “I couldn’t get in either. The door was locked.”

“Sam, I taught you how to pick a lock.” Dean said accusingly.

“I know, and I was on it when the screaming stopped and then I came to check on you.”

The door of the classroom opened and a slightly disturbed Emily came out. Julia ran up to her and hugged her. “What the heck were you thinking, Emily? What are you doing here?”

“I heard you and Sam talking about ghosts so I followed you. I was curious!”

“You know what they say, Emily. Curiosity killed the cat. You should have stayed at home.”

“And satisfaction brought it back, Julia. I’m fine.” Emily assured her.

“That was stupid, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, but I’m glad I did it.”                  

“You’re _glad_ you nearly got yourself killed?!” Julia exclaimed.

“No, I’m glad I know now.”

“You know you can’t tell Mum and Dad, right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

Dean turned to Emily. “Emily, what happened in there?”

“Can’t we just leave it for a second, Dean?” Julia intervened.

“No. We need to know if this is over.”

“It’s okay.” Emily said calmly. “Things started flying across the room and then there was this woman. She said that everything would be okay, that all will be good now and that it was gone. And then she went up in flames.”

“Okay. Let’s just see if anything happens this week. Maybe one ghost killed the other or they both killed each other.”

“Okay.” Julia nodded. “Let’s go home, Emily.”

***

On Friday, Sam and Dean didn't show up for school and they also didn't on the following Monday. Jula knew they were gone again but she was thankful for the information Sam had provided her with that afternoon. Because now, there was always a small jar of salt in her pocket and the water in her bottle was sacred. The Ghost never returned.


End file.
